Cave Vin

What: Cave Vin (French restaurant)

Where: 5555 Xerxes Ave., Minneapolis

Rating: 9

Non-Quantifiable Rating: How do you say "Six more plates of goat cheese, please" in French?

You could drive by this place hundreds of times and never realize it was there.  I should know - I actually HAVE driven by this place hundreds of times, and never noticed it.  They didn't even have a sign until a few months ago.  Now that I know about it, I feel like a privileged member of the "in-the-know" crowd.  Of course, now you're part of that crowd too.  We should have a special handshake.

When you walk in to Cave Vin, you're greeted by a giant wall of wine (a good sign), and a cozy, bistro-like atmosphere.  It was hopping on a Monday night, and we quickly found out why. It's fantastic (and half-priced wine on Mondays and Tuesdays probably didn't hurt).  We cruised through the bread basket (I loooove restaurants that still have those!) and roughly 963 servings of appetizers and entrees, each of which surpassed the last.  Apparently there is one guy standing in the back hand-crafting each entree from scratch.  I bet that guy's email address is GnocchiWizard@UnFreakingBelievable.drool.

The service was attentive without being overbearing, and the wine list is amaaaazing (our waiter's spot-on recommendation will be reviewed shortly).  Some people might not like the fact that "cozy" translates to "I sort of feel like I could reach out and eat off the plate of the guy at the table next to me," but that makes it all the more authentically French.  And no, I didn't steal anyone else's food, but I can't say it wasn't tempting.  

All in all, this was easily one of the best meals I've had in recent memory.  Between the phenomenal food, great ambience and unassuming charm, it warrants the unusually high rating.  Fair warning: it's not exactly in the TGI Friday's price range, but it's not insane.  Besides, if I could afford to eat there more often, I'd have to also be able to afford new, roomier pants.